Tally Printer Fails to Work

Obvious questions, but they have to be asked:

What is are the specifications of the interfaces (at each end) - RS232, RS422, RS485 etc. - and do they match?

Is the cable correctly wired, and of the right type and length?

Are the protocol settings (baud rate, data bits, stop bits, parity, handshake) set up correctly at both ends?

http://ru.tallygenicom.com/faqs/default.aspx?id=6556&rdr=true&LangType=1049

" The AS400 computers will not have a printer configuration for the Tally printers so if you are wanting a configuration for the printer, we recommend that you select the configuration for the IBM Proprinter XL. You will also need to set the printer into the IBM emulation. In the list of IBM printer models on the AS400 this equates to IBM 42021. "

Thanks for the reply,

the printer support the RS232C serial interface 25pin conector and the Advant station 500 has RS232C serial connector 9-pin D -sub and the signal names are specified in the EIA RS-232 standard. Also in the list of printers on the AS500 we only have a couple of standard HP printers and no any IBM but with an option if you are not sure of the printer type. The first printer before relacement was the TallyMT151/9 and it was working fine. The diagrame shows the interface and ever done it that way

The RS-232 standard is very old and was originally designed to interface Data Terminal Equipment like teletype machines with Data Control Equipment like modems and to facilitate the transfer of data over a simplex or one directional links, that's why there are so many control signals.

Unfortunately this means that when you are connecting a printer to a computer you are connecting two pieces of DTE together and that's not what the system was meant to do. This is why you have to play jiggery pokery with the control signals and cross over the TX and RX signals.

Now your cable needs to trick the computer into thinking it sees a modem rather than a printer and I can see one glaring problem straight up. On your cable pin 11 has a signal labelled RDY which I assume means ready, but this is not a standard RS-232 signal and I suspect is something unique to the printer you were previously using. Normally from a printer you would use the Data Terminal Ready signal which is on pin 20 to drive the Clear To Send input at the PC end. If your system is set up the way I think it is then unless there is a high signal on the CTS pin of the PC then it will not transmit data.

Here is what I would do:

• Check CTS: Check the voltage with respect to ground of the CTS input (PC DB-9 pin 8) to see if it is high. If it is high then you do not have a problem. If it is low then proceed with the following steps.
• Check DTR: Check the DTR signal (printer DB-25 pin 20) at the printer end to see that it is high. The printer will obviously need to be turned on and more than likely will need to be on line. If it is not high and you can't get it to go high then either the printer is not set up for hardware handshaking or there is something wrong with the printer.
• Connect CTS to DTR: If you do see a high signal at pin 20 then move the wire that is currently going to pin 11 to pin 20 so that the DTR output of the printer is connected to the CTS input of the computer.

If all goes well this should fix your problem, if not then try reconfiguring everything so that there is no handshaking at all, this should then at least let data flow from the compute to the printer.

NOTE: You might want to see if you can borrow a breakout box (see image below) from somebody prior to messing about with cable changes. These are invaluable when working with RS-232 serial data problems and allow you to test changes by disconnecting signals with the switches then reconnecting them where you want them with small jumpers.